RWBY: End Of Days
by Doomstone42
Summary: The world of Remnant has enjoyed a tremendous time of peace since the end of the Great War. However, not all want the days of war to end and have begun to once again bring the world to its knees. With Beacons strongest being caught in the middle of it all. Will the champions of Vale stop the impending war or will Remnant face the gates of destruction once again?
1. Dance with the Damned

Dance with the Damned

The lights that shown within the room only reinforced the idea that many who had walked into its dark depths had never come out in one piece or at all. The room itself was a large, cleanly kept space big enough to fit a small army into with no obvious ways of entering or exiting.

"Subject-711 to test room 1," was all the monotone of the intercom said. A portion of the wall on one side of the room opened to reveal a young man with deep sea-blue eyes and a deathly pale white face that was out shined by his short blonde hair that covered his ears. He wore a suit of smooth jet black armor that reached from his feet and ended at his neck and shoulders. However, the most prominent feature was his hellish grin that only exacerbated his nightmarish appearance. A bright white light sparked on behind a high rising window on the far side of the room. A figure whose feature were obscured by the light pressed a button on a panel and spoke into a small microphone.

"Begin Test".

From each side of the room, over a dozen large doors slid down from the walls to reveal a multitude of wolf like creatures with bone white faces of grimm. Upon seeing him, three of the monsters howled in unison and charged the lone figure with claws and teeth bared. The man crouched into a fighting stance and swung his fist upward, smashing in the creatures jaw and sent it barreling into another of its comrades. The third pounced at the man in an attempt to pin the man to the ground and maul him to death. The lone man jumped to the side to avoid the beast while also grabbing a tuft of fur with one hand sending himself flying along with the grimm. The creature tried to grab and rip the man off its back but couldn't reach him where he held on to. The man grabbed onto its jaw with one hand and held onto its shoulder with the other. Its neck yanked around with a loud snap.

"This is just getting fun!" shouted the man as he grabbed the pair of large gauntlets he had kept holstered at his thighs. Each weapon the same jet black smoothness of his armor. Suddenly, the scream of a Beowulf let him know that he didn't have to wait long for his enjoyment to begin again. A massive hand swung for his head, its razor sharp claws shining in the dimly lit room. The man caught its arm mid strike and in the same quick motion, climbed onto its back and twisted its arm behind the creature, causing it to shriek in pain. He forced the creature to the ground with a strike to the nape of the grimms neck. Blood and gore splattered the floor as its head was caved in with a single blow from the men's armored fist, cracking the concrete underneath the pulpy mass where its head used to be. Another charged the man from where he stood perched upon the headless body of the beowulf, its mouth opened as far as it could go in an attempt to bite and rip the mans own head off. Just before the grimm could snap its jaws shut, its body became completely limp. A black object sticking out from the back of its large neck, pieces of white teeth and dark red blood dripping off of the men's armored fist.

"I want more!" howled the fighter as a pair of prong like blade sprouted from each gauntlet; the blades shining from opposing sides of the man's wrist. Instead of waiting for another one to rush him, he instead ran insanely at a pair of grimm, cackling madly and wildly flailing his arms the entire way. Upon reaching them, both struck with their razor like claws but was blocked by the mans own blades.

"GIVE ME MORE!" screamed the man at the grimm as he cleanly sliced the arm off of one of the creatures. It shrieked in agony and fell back while its partner tried to retaliate for the attack but was quickly cut off at the head; its dark blood spraying high into the air. The man began to giggle maniacally at the sight of the fountain. The second grimm tried to regain its balance and attack with its other claw, however, the grimm shrieked in agony as that arm was cut off at the shoulder. Leaving the creature to bleed out, he turned himself to face the rest of the horde of creatures, his eyes beginning to lose their blue hue and began to be darken to a near black level.

"My turn." he cackled. Each of his hands began to glow a gentle orange as dust from the gauntlets began to form a small bright orange orb at the end of each of his clenched fists. As the orbs began to grow in size and brightness, bright white bolts of energy began to strike between each bladed prong, growing in size and ferocity as the orbs grew in size. Growing impatient, a single grimm rushed the lone man, its arms outstretched and mouth wide open to finally kill the single fighter. In a flash of movement, the man jumped straight from the grimm. The blades impaled it without a sound. The creature glared at the man with apparent surprise that that it was still alive.

"Time for the finale." he said. The grimm began to scream in agony as flames began to pour outwards from its mouth ears and eyes. Within seconds, the creature was turned to a pile of ashes. Turning the glowing weapons on the remaining crowd of grimm, a small stream of energy fired from the orb and followed the blades. The moment the energy reached the end of the prongs, the condensed energy expanded into a massive raging inferno that consumed the entire side of the room it was aimed at. The creatures howled in pain as they were burned alive. The man, who continued to fill the room with fire, simply stared at his handy work with a wide toothy smile that grew larger and larger the longer the inferno consumed everything before him.

The white light flashed on again behind the madman as two new figures appeared in the window. One had the look of a man in a suit and top hat and the other a feminine figure with long flowing hair. "Test complete." rang the original proctors voice.

"He will do perfectly." said the woman

"And how do you expect to keep him under control? How do you expect ME to keep him on a leash?" the man asked.

"It doesn't matter," replied the woman, "so long as he has something to play with he will do as I want."

Both looked back at their new asset, still blazing away at the remains, his psychotic grin causing the man to look away in disgust and the woman to watch in awe at what her new toy would do for fun.

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

**So there you have it folks, the first of two trailers for the new guys in the world of RWBY. I had a lot of fun trying my hand at creating a brand new character to RWBY. Be sure to comment on the story and let me know what you think of the new story, it would really help me to make sure the story is as good as I aspire it to be. Credits to DeadAliveManiac and Zivon96 for the inspiration to write the trailers for the new characters.**


	2. Trials of a Traitor

Trials of a Traitor

The shattered moon only reflected the features of the figure who stood looking toward the night sky from beneath a pile of rubble that had been apart of a great city many years ago. A small fire from inside a dug out hole illuminated the aspects of the lone man that stood just outside the threshold of the makeshift home. The man had close cut short brown hair that just barely poked out from underneath a black ball cap that rested on top of his head. Likewise, his face was almost completely hidden behind a dirty black cloth that he had wrapped around his head, leaving only a left, tired, brown eye visible beneath the mask. A filthy light brown, ankle long duster collared his neck and covered nearly every inch of the man other than its unbuttoned, open face that had its sleeves end in a pair of fingerless and padded gloves that covered his callused hands. Clean, dark blue pants concealed his finely muscled legs that ended in a pair of boots the same darkness as the night sky. However, the most prominent and eye catching feature he had was a perfect snow white shirt he wore under the unbuttoned coat and a small sun golden locket that he had chained around his neck and lie against the soft white cotton.

The figure in the rubble sighed to himself and returned to his makeshift house which was nothing more than a small hovel dug out of the debris with a dull grey rucksack shoved into a corner that also acted as the headcase to a stony bed. Crawling over to where the sack sat, he pulled out a small white rod from one of its side pockets before laying on his back; his head against the softest part of the bag. The rod separated at the middle as it was pulled apart and formed into rectangular shape. Pressing a button on the bright holographic face of the scroll, the man spoke into the the computer as a personal recorder activated at his voice password.

"Journal entry 734-2." mumbled the man as his mask muffled his words, "I finally made it to the ruins of Mans Progress after about week of walking through the countryside of Vale." He spent a second recollecting the days travels. "I'm surprised I managed to get into town without so much as a peep from grimm. They should be crawling all over this place but I haven't seen one since I entered town and that is something to be curious about. Anyway, I'll gather up and be on my way by daybreak to continue on to Vale. I also need to find a way into the city without triggering every damn bell and whistle they might have. I need to hurry up and find him before too much longer." The sound of his campfire being dampened by a splash of water was audible to the recorder. "Journal entry end."

A deafening explosion threw up the place that had once been his makeshift shelter, sending pieces of rubble flying through the air in every direction. The man who made the spectacle stood from his hiding place on the second story of a nearby building and shouted toward the crater that replaced the pile of rubble from a few seconds ago.

"Search the area! I want a body found!"

Moving out from behind their concealed positions, seven men approached the smoldering campsite, slowly working their way toward the epicenter of the explosion. After several seconds the men came to where the campsite had once been.

"Captain!" shouted one of the mercenaries

"Did you find him!?" replied the bounty hunter

"We ain't got a body." said one of the men.. "Wait, I got something here!" shouted another a few yards from the other man who bent over to pick up a small white rod that lie half buried in the dirt.

"Well, what the hell is it!" yelled the commander from his perch in the nearby building

"It's his scro…" said the man before his voice was cut off, a gunshot echoing around the ruins. The mans head was completely obliterated as the round passed through the side of his skull, leaving a headless mannequin behind.

"FIND HIM" screamed the commander who ducked into cover and began to reload his weapon.

Several of his men ran to where the shot had rang out from. The doors to the partially collapsed office building gave no indication that he was there. As the men crossed the doors threshold, a figure charged out from behind the receptionists desk, a massive revolver in one hand and a single edged short sword in the other. Without hesitation, the man threw himself at the first man he saw, his blade flashing through the air as it cleanly cut into and out of the mans neck. Before the other two could get their bearings, he twisted his blade around and jabbed it up through the next mans head the tip of the blade protruding through his bald spot. The last one had his trained and ready to fire but was too late as a massive hole appeared where his heart had once been, the barrel of revolver smoking in the moonlight. The front of the lobby began to disintegrated as the rest of the mercs opened fire on the building, holes dotting every surface of the wall. The man inside threw himself behind the secretaries desk and readied his gun on the rear facing wall. He pressed a button on his gun next to the hammer and a bright red light flashed on the iron sights of it. He fired the weapon and a bright red fireball exploded from its barrel. The round slammed into the face of the wall and exploded, creating a large enough hole for him to run and dive through.

"Get in there and find him and don't come out until I have my next paycheck!" yelled the bounty hunter, a hint of fear replacing the original confidence in his voice.

"They won't find anything" said someone from behind the hunter, the cold touch of a blood soaked blade pressing itself against his neck.

"Why aren't you..." started the man.

"Why aren't I dead?" said the masked man. "Because there weren't any grimm around here which meant someone had been killing them and the only reason someone would be in this neck of the woods is if they were a huntsmen on a job," his voice became a very soft whisper, as if he were speaking to the dead, "or someone out for my head." The hunter limply fell to the ground, blood spilling from a thin red line across his bearded neck. "It also helps to have an escape hatch," said the man. Before he left, he did a quick search of the leader and found a small handheld computer in the recesses of his pockets.

"What have we here?" said the man as he jumped from the building and stealthily ran out and grabbed his scroll from the hands of his first mercenary he had killed and snagged the strap of his rucksack that he had kept hidden under a piece of debris behind the building with the last of the hunters men still searching for him.

Several minutes later, he stopped beneath a rock overhang in the woods and looked back at the night sky, its shattering moon reflecting the feelings that he had within himself.

"Journal entry 734-3, I'll have to thank whoever put the bounty on my head, I have a way back into town." The surface of the locket shining brightly under the breaking moons gaze.

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

**And there it is, the second of two introductions to the characters new to RWBY. Please be sure to let me know how you think of it so far. Credits to the game Fallout: New Vegas for the inspiration in creating this new character and his day job clothing. First chapter should be up by the 23rd of this month.**


	3. Chapter 1: Introduction

_Its been too long since I could walk with people that aren't trying to kill me_, thought the man who stood just outside the massive bustling city. The main gate overflowing with traffic coming into and out of the Grand Capital.

"Well, guess I'd better just wander 'round till I find someone to help me out." he said sarcastically as he made his way out from behind a nearby apartment complex and began to make his way toward the city's enormous gated walls that completely surrounded the entire town.

Although he knew he wasn't in any immediate danger, he still cautiously made his way toward a pedestrian gate, simply out of habit from constantly having a gun pointed at the back of his head. Bobbing in from building to building, rooftop to rooftop, avoiding anyone that he might have crossed paths with on the way to a side entrance gate. The pedestrians gate was nothing more than a simple bar that raised up and down to let people in after they presented certain objects to a box mounted on a mid-sized pole that sat next to the entrance bar.

_Sure still have _amazing _security out here_ he thought as he finally reached the front of short line to get in. A black box stood on a stand just before the gate where people would slide a card like device into the box for verification and I.D.

"And here's where you come into play." said the man as he reached into his coat and retrieved the handheld computer that he had recovered several days prior. Walking up to the box, the man slide the computer into a slot which scanned the digital memory for personal I.D.

A handful of seconds later, the machine spat out the card and chimed its 'Welcome to Vale', the entrance bar rising up as it recited its welcoming ceremony. Although he had been in Vale a long time ago, The huge expanse of the city still amazed and awed him.

"Open sesame."

Several blocks away, a girl in a bright red cape slowly walked down a back road of town, lazily kicking at any loose rocks that so happened to be in her way. "So why are we here again?" she whined to her partner, a snow white dress dazzling in the mid-day sun.

"I've already told you," replied Weiss, a hint of irritation snaking into her voice. "we're here because Professor Oobleck asked us to go and pick up a book for him from Tucson's Book Trade that he ordered a while back but never got delivered."

"I know _that,_" retorted Ruby as she gave a quizzical look at Weiss, "I just don't know why _we_ have to go and get it for him, I mean, don't we have someone else to go do his fetching for him?"

Weiss sighed in frustration at her teammates constant whining. "Its probably something he wants to be kept secret and he doesn't trust anyone else to bring it to him without it being stolen or something."

"So we're playing bodyguard to a book?"

"I guess so, O.K.?"

Rounding the bend, the duo spotted the bookstore at the end of the street, its windows completely blacked out and a red sign hanging on the door knob. As they got halfway to the store, Weiss reached into her bag and gave Ruby a small pouch containing a handful of coins.

"What's this?" asked a perplexed Ruby

"I'm going to go pick up the book and I want you to get some water from that machine over there."

"Why do I have to?"

"Why else you dolt, I'm parched and you're not doing anything anyway, so just do as I so kindly asked and go get some water." At that, the Ice Queen stormed off, her royal nose sticking high above the cloud line.

"Why do I have to do everything?" Ruby whined as she pivoted on her feet and slowly mosied on over to where Weiss had told her to go off to, hanging her head and lazily kicking at loose rocks again. However, before she took more than a few steps, she was stopped in her tracks by a man yelling from the other end of the road.

"HEY YOU THERE, HANG ON!" he shouted at the red clad hunter, his mud caked duster bobbing up and down as he sprinted over to where a confused Ruby stood, half-ready to run herself.

"Umm, can I help you." she asked as the man stopped just short of where the she was. His face (or what could be seen of his face) a bright beat red.

"Yeah you could." he finally managed to say after collecting his breath. "I need you to deliver a message for me if you have the time."

Ruby placed her hand on her chin in a deep thinking manner. "What kind of message and why me?"

"Because you're a hunter and I need it delivered to professor Ozpin at Beacon." seeing the questions start to form on her lips, he quickly interjected. "I saw that thing on your back. Not something a normal girl would carry around now would it?"

Although she could tell that something was suspicious about this man, she couldn't resist the opportunity to help someone who had specifically asked her for it. "O.K. mister, what's the message and when do I need to get it to _Headmaster_ Ozpin.

"He's Headmaster now?" mumbled the man, his visible eyebrow raising in surprise.

Ruby cocked her head slightly to the side, "You didn't know that?"

Realizing that he had spoken out loud, he quickly averted his gaze. "Uhh, that's not important.

What is important," quickly rifling through his inner coat pockets, he pulled out a folded slip of paper held closed by a piece of brown tape, "is that this gets to him as soon as possible.

Down on the opposite end of the road, Weiss arrived outside the bookstore, still bitter over being questioned by Ruby. "Why can't she just do a little favor for me without questioning everything I ask?" vented Weiss as she waltzed into the bookstore, oblivious to the fact that the stores sign said closed and all of the lights were blacked out.

"Next time she pesters me about something so trivial I swear I'll…" Weiss was cut off as she tripped over something stiff on the floor, halfway between the register and the doorway. "Oh, for the love of…" she began as she started to pick herself up. However, before she even got to her knees, she noticed how the floor was covered in a dark, sticky splotch. "What is this?" she demanded, her voice quivering as she slowly realized what she was lieing in.

her confused face turned to absolute horror as she slowly turned her head around and came face to face with the ex-owner of the store, half of his head missing."

"Oh my god."

"So is that all you needed or-"

"RUBY!" screamed Weiss, her face and dress covered in dark red splotches.

Ruby turned back away from Weiss and started to ask if the stranger knew what was going on only to find herself standing completely alone on the street corner.

"What are you doing, hurry up and call the police!" she shrieked at Ruby, who fumbled with getting her scroll out from its pocket.

"What happened?" she yelled back, her dialer already toning.

"There's a body in there, I stepped on a body!"

From atop a nearby rooftop, a mysterious figure slowly slipped away from the duo down on the street and the wail of sirens off in the distance. "This is your first, and it won't be my last." he whispered, the girls already directing police toward the scene.

"Please get that letter to him." He reached into his coat pocket as his messenger started to go off.

"Please hurry." he begged, the message on the scroll reading off its ominous words of warning.

'_**The Queen has Pawns' **_

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

**So there it is folks, the first chapter in a brand new story of RWBY with plenty more one the way. I am sorry for not getting this out yesterday but I have been a bit under the weather so please don't be too upset. As always be sure to leave a comment telling me how I might improve the story and if it is going good so far.**


	4. Chapter 2: First Day

**First Day**

"I'm telling you, I don't know anything else."

It had already been over an hour since the discovery of the deceased owner of the book store that Weiss and Ruby had been assigned to pick up a package for Professor Oobleck and the duo had been sat on a nearby park bench for the entirety of that time, being bombarded by question after question by one of the Officers on the scene.

"So you're telling me that you _just_ so happen to be on your way to pick up a package for one of your teachers and the guy who's supposed to have it _just_ so happens to be dead for only a hour or two before you arrive?

"Yes, that _is_ what happened." answered Weiss.

"So why's your dress covered in blood?" the investigator demanded

Weiss's voice started to quiver and shake as she replied, "I already told you, I tripped over his... Over his..."

The investigator finally softened at seeing the young girl shake at the memory, "O.K, O.K, So this all is just a coincidence huh? Nothing else happened that either of you think was suspicious or anything? Any strange person watching from a street corner or anything?"

Ruby remembered the man that had come to ask for her help. _Should I give him his letter, he could have done it," _she thought to herself, _but he did say it needed to get to Ozpin so maybe-_

Although she hadn't said anything since calling the police, the Officer still noticed her deep in thought. "Something wrong there Miss? Something you want to tell me?"

Realizing that she had been noticed thinking, she quickly diverted the question. "Do you think we could look for the package that Oobleck wanted?"

"Sorry Miss, but until we know exactly what happened we can't let anyone take anything from inside that store. Speaking of which, do you know what the Professor wanted from Tucson?"

Ruby tried to think of an answer but couldn't come up with anything. Not knowing what to say, she looked toward Weiss who was sitting next to her.

Seeing that she was going to have to reply to the question, Weiss averted her eyes and quickly thought up a reasonable assumption for the officer, his pen tapping against his scrolls notepad as he waited for a response. "I think he wanted some kind of history book that he wouldn't trust the mailman to deliver, but as for what that book might have been, I have no idea."

"O.K. thank you, when you go back to class, please, ask Professor Oobleck what it is that he wanted. It might help us find out who did this and, more importantly, why they did it." And at that, the investigator beckoned to another officer to come over to where he stood. "Officer Nelly here will give you both a ride back to Beacon, please go with him.

The pair of huntresses looked nervously at each other before Weiss finally conceded and stood to get into the officer's patrol car. Ruby moved to get up but something on a nearby rooftop caught her attention. A white glint sat strangely on the ledge of a nearby two story building.

"Come on." Weiss said impatiently as she sat waiting for her partner in the back of the Police Car.

"I'm coming." she replied. The spot on the rooftop was now completely vacant as she started toward the cruiser, her eyes darting from place to place trying to find the figure again. _Was that the guy from earlier? _she thought to herself.

"Something wrong?" asked Weiss, her face stuck between impatience and actual worry.

Ruby looked back at her partner and, to Weiss's surprise, had a small smirk start to cross her face. "I just can't wait to tell everyone about our little 'adventure' today."

"You definitely have issues." Weiss retorted, as she vainly attempted to remove the blood stains with a wet towel the driver had offered her.

From the nearby rooftop, a man peered out from over the roofs ledge down at the now taped off entrance to the cook store its exterior still not betraying what had transpired inside before the arrival of police officials. The man looked around the street below, scanning for any passersby before jumping down off to the sidewalk two stories below. He landed with a soft thump and looked around to be sure that nobody had seen him come down. Seeing that the street was empty, the man pulled out a handheld recorder that he had used to observe the officers from his concealed spot of the ledge of the roof. Pulling up the recording, the man fast forwarded until the pair of girls appeared and split their separate ways. He slowed the video as the stranger with the cloth mask approached the younger of the two and stopped it once he finally came into frame.

_Who is he and, more importantly, what did he give that girl_? he thought to himself as he scanned over the image again and again. _I wonder if _he _knows anything about this guy. _He wondered, although he still had a hint of anger at the thought of asking him for help.

_You better pay me extra for this_ the man thought to himself as he began to walk back to his employers hideout.

"I hope she gets that message to Ozpin before much longer." mumbled the man who walked along a desolate back road of the city, the only thing making him noticeable in the darkness of the night is the dim light of the overhead light poles strewn about at seemingly random intervals. However, none of these things bothered him as he continued on further and further into the back end of town.

To anyone who might be watching him, he would have seen to be wandering aimlessly through the continuously deteriorating part of town; everyone except him of course. _I need a place to rest but before I do that I need something that I should be getting before too long_. he thought as he turned down a back alley toward a run down motel, several of its windows smashed in and small, perfectly round holes dotting several of the rooms outer walls.

"This will do." he said quietly as he looked through the windows of each room trying to determine if they had occupants or if they were empty. Looking through the first window, he saw that it was already completely open and 'inviting' to him. _Home sweet home_ he thought to himself as he stepped through the doorway, threw his bag onto the floor directly so that anyone peeking through would immediately see it first and threw himself onto the bug infested and ripped out bed and tried to get a quick nap while he waited for his ticket to the better part of town.

"He looked like he had some real goodies on him!" loudly whispered one of a group of people that had followed and watched their man with increasing interest and growing water in their mouths as he walked deeper and deeper into their territory and further away from anyone who might interfere with the 'meet and greet' that they had planned for the newcomer to this part of town.

"Well? Let's go and relieve him of his stuff!" said another man, his knife shining in the dim light of the street corner light post.

"Wait," demanded the leader of the group, "let's let him go to sleep, after all, its rude to take from the awake."

"Fine, but this had better be worth a fortune, that bag looked pretty damn stuffed and I better get my share this time."

"Well don't fuck it up this time and maybe you'll get what you think you deserve."

"Hey, its not my fault the bitch decided to start screaming. I just had to make her a little more quiet for the neighbors." retorted the underling as he stared fondly at the tip of his jagged blade.

"Then be quiet, it's about time we 'introduce' ourselves." said the gang leader, the rest of the group snickering at the thought of what they could end up getting tonight.

_And now the show begins_, the man thought to himself as he heard footsteps coming closer and closer toward his room.

_One, two, three, four and five, _he counted as the men got to the doorway and started to slowly turn open the handle to his door.

_Come a little closer,_ he said to himself as the men started to walk into the room, several heading straight for the bag on the opposite side of the room.

"You three, look through the bag and grab anything that looks valuable. Nick, help me out with our guest, he's probably got some goods on him too." whispered the boss of the gang.

"What the-" started the man who started searching through the bag, the sound of a pin being pulled could be heard as he opened up the main part of the rucksack, a small round object flinging itself out of the bag and landing in the middle of the floor with an audible thud.

The room was lit up as if it were in the center of the sun and a extremely loud bang sounded throughout the block as the concussion grenade detonated, dazzling everyone that had come into the room.

The man on the bed, who had ear protection put in place just for that, sprung up and grabbed the face of one of the men who was just about to 'wake' him and slammed it into the wall directly behind him, knocking him out cold. The other men were still scrabbling at their ears trying to stop the ringing. Not one to waste an opportunity, he slammed his fist into the gut of the other pickpocketer, twisted around and struck him over the back of his head with his elbow outstretched. Climbing back onto the bed, he jumped as high as he could go and slammed his feet into another of the henchmen, ribs could be heard cracking as he landed on top of the man. By then, the final two had gained enough of their senses to reach for their weapons they had placed on the floor before searching his bag. Grabbing the first man by his weapon bearing hand, he pushed the arm away and flattened out his other hand and struck the man in the neck. Dazzled by the hit, the man dropped his blade and started to reach for his throbbing neck, his partner trying to find a way around him. Still holding him by the arm, he jumped into the air and slammed both his feet into the mans chest. Before he fell to the floor, he pressed with all his might and released the man's arm sending him flying into his partner behind him and sent the both of them through the wall and into the next room over, the man on the bottom hitting his head over a half broken table knocking both of them out.

Seeing that he no longer had anyone to oppose him, the stranger walked through the room, going from person to person gathering up what he had originally intended to get anyway. Grabbing up the spilled contents of his rucksack, he started out the door of the motel room.

"Today was a good day." he said joyfully, hands and pack laiden with the thieves money and valuables he had confiscated as punishment, the sounds of pained moaning still emanating from the destroyed motel room. The rest of the night was spent sitting on a bench in the middle of the city's several parks waiting for the dawn to appear over the horizon.

"Journal Entry 735-1, I finally have some money. Tomorrow I'm going shopping." the man said with glee as he peered back at the stack of bills he had scuttled into his coat pocket.

"Journal entry end."

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

**And there is another one. Mostly just a set up chapter but don't worry, it won't be too long before things really begin. As always leave a comment on how you think things are going and how they could be improved. Please keep it to constructive criticism though. Hate mail doesn't make better stories.**


	5. Chapter 3: First Night

**First Night**

The ride back to Beacon was a long and drawn out one, mostly due to Weiss's insistence that they stop every so often so she might not get sick inside the clean police cruiser, as well as the massively increased size in traffic because of the evening rush of people trying to find their way out of the city to go home.

By the time the pair of huntresses had reached the transport hub that flew students up to the school, the sky had already started to darken as night began to settle overhead. The wait to catch a flight back to school took long enough for the entire city to brighten with its night lights, and the wait on the short flight took long enough for a exhausted Ruby to look back out over the glowing city, it seemingly never finding its own sleep.

Although the incident had only happened several hours ago, word of what transpired had already found its way into every nook and cranny in Beacon with almost every person the pair came across asking what actually happened as they tried to make their way back to their dorm. Weiss in particular was receiving a large amount of attention as many of the people they came across pointed at her ruined dress and starred in a horrified trance as her dress now had streaks of blood smeared over it as she had tried to wipe the wet stains out of it.

Just before they reached the corridor that lead to the dorm room, Ruby remembered the letter that she had placed into a space in Crescent Rose, the tip of the white envelope just barely peeking out from behind the weapons massive blade.

"Well come on," demanded Weiss as she started toward the dorm room.

"You go on in, I need to go talk to someone real quick." Ruby replied as she turned around and began to quickly make her way back down the stairway she had just come up from.

Several minutes later, she found herself outside the elevator that lead up to the Headmasters office. However, just before she walked inside and headed on up to meet with Ozpin, she pulled out the paper that she had been given earlier that day and looked over the outside of the envelope that held the letter.

_Maybe I should see what it says, just in case…_ she contemplated as she peered around to make sure no one was watching. Sliding her finger under the sealed part of the letter, she cleanly opened the container and pulled out a small piece of paper. Turning it over so she could see the writing she repeated what it said in her head.

_I need to talk with you_

_Come to where Summer meets Winter three days from the 7th_

_-C.L._

"What does that mean?" Ruby said as she re-read the message over and over again.

"Wait. Come to where Summer meets Winter. Summer meets Winter?" her face lit up as comprehension spread over her face. "Why is that guy going _there_?!" she demanded as if the stranger was standing next to her.

Glancing back up at the elevator doors she stared at the message for several more seconds and decided on what she was going to do.

The head office was largely empty except for one strange, gear driven desk directly in front of a large window that looked out over the entire academy and landing area for visitors and hunters returning from outside the school. At that desk sat the Headmaster, a white haired man looking over something on his glowing computer, a steaming cup of coffee sitting next to it and his cane lying against the golden rim of the peculiar table.

From across the room the elevator bell dinged as it arrived at the grand office, its occupant still waiting for acceptance before final entry.

"Come in." he requested as he waited patiently for his guest to enter.

"Ah, Miss Rose, what can I do for you tonight?"

"Well its not exactly for me."

"Oh, then what can I do for whoever needs me?"

Turning her hand over, she revealed the sealed envelope that contained the request. "It's for whoever wrote this."

"I see." he said as he opened the letter and pulled out the folded piece of paper. He read the paper without a hint of emotion or reaction: as stoic as when she first stepped into the office.

"Thank you for bringing this to me Ruby, although I think your friends are still waiting for you back in the room."

She could see that was his way of dismissing her without being direct about it. "Oh yeah, they still are aren't they?"

Ozpin patiently waited at his desk while Ruby awkwardly walked back toward the elevator. Once the doors had completely shut, he slowly moved over to the massive window that looked out over his school and glanced back at the paper he held in his hand, its pen written writing barely visible in the waning light of the crumbling moon.

"Its been years since I last saw you a free man. What could you be thinking I wonder?"

The walk back through the school was much quieter and much more forlorn than the original travel around the corridors as most students had already retired to their beds for the night. The feeling that she didn't know what was really going on tormented her and made her think of what could be so important that that man had to meet with the headmaster for. Or, more importantly, why he had to meet him _there_. Even when Ruby arrived back at her dorm, where she fully expected to be bombarded with questions from Yang and Blake and even from JNPR across the hall, she instead was met with Yang who made as to go running at her sister but was cut off by a stern look from Blake who sat on her bed, reading one of her several books she kept stashed away.

Although the lack of noise surprised her, something else bothered her even more, something she had left a while ago…

"Where's Weiss?" she asked.

Yang motioned with her head at the door to the bathroom.

Slowly pushing open the door, she came upon a disheveled Weiss who knelt over the bathtub furiously scrubbing at the stains in her dress with a red soaked rag.

"Weiss, are you ok?

"I'm fine!" she barked as she continued to try and wash the dress out.

"Weiss, I think you should come in and go to bed, you need to rest."

Weiss spun around, her eyes wild with a mix of anger and fear. "I don't need you to tell me what to do! I just need to get this stain out and I'll be fine, why don't you just mind your own business for a change, huh! Or is that something you just can't do!?"

Ruby stepped back as the verbal abuse poured out from a crazed Weiss who had already turned back to scrubbing at the permanent stains in the dress with increased vigor.

"I-I just thought…" she trembled as she tried to find the words to say.

"You though what, that you could just order me around like a dog? That you could try and tell me to forget what I saw!? Or maybe to tell me to just get over it and move on?

"W-Weiss, please.."

"Just get out!" she screamed as she rose to her feet and slammed the door shut on Ruby who now stood trembling at Weiss's rage, her eyes starting to water as she took another step away from the door.

Yang jumped off of her bed and put her arms around Ruby and lead her over to her bed where she sat with her, consoling her as tears poured from her innocent eyes.

"Ruby, please don't take this personal, she said the same things when we tried to talk to her. Just try to forgive and forget." Yang moved closer and gave her little sister a gentle hug,

"Be the big girl."

That night Ruby didn't get a single second of sleep, the words of Weiss echoing through her mind coupled with what she had read in the man's message made sure she had more to think about than rest.

_Why is he going _their_? _she thought to herself over and over as she stared up at the ceiling, its wooden surface not giving her the answers she so desperately wanted.

"_Move in." he said as he kicked in the door. The room he entered was fairly large white lit and plain looking room with four other ways in, A lone figure stood in the center of the room as six other people rushed in through separate doors on opposite sides of the large facility floor. _

"_You!" he yelled as he stared in awe at the figure standing in the middle._

"_Me." he replied as he fired his weapon at him, the world flashing bright red before turning dark._

_When he finally regained his senses the room was ablaze with objects lying on the floor around a pair who faced off against each other. Seeing that he was still alive, one of the remaining fighters broke off and picked him up from where he stood and threw him back outside the door he had come through. Her silver eyes brightly lit by the flames that were engulfing them._

"_Live!" she yelled as she threw him out the door. Before he could charge back in, the flames finally took the entire facility collapsed under the intense heat of the raging fire. The only thing brighter than the fire was the sun golden locket he found himself holding in front of the mass grave…_

He woke with a start as a cold sweat dripped down his face and onto the pure white of his shirt, only the darkness of the night was there to greet him as he found himself propped against a park tree in the middle of the city.

"_Just another dream…"_ he told himself as he rested back against the tree, his breathing slowing as he regained control of his nerves.

_I'll never be free of this torment, but I deserve nothing less. _The dark expanse of the night sky put him at ease and the shining moon reflected off of the golden surface of the locket he carried around his neck.


	6. Chapter 4: Wake Up Call

**Wake up call**

Morning dawned over the massive expanse of the capital city of Vale. The brilliant sun reflecting off of every single drop of morning dew, creating a dazzling display of light throughout the City. Main city park was the most stunning with trees reflecting the morning sun and spider webs creating a picture worthy expression of early day beauty.

However, the one thing that broke the incredible display of artistic light was a brown mass that sat curled up against a grand oak tree, its muddy brown skin creating a splotch in the otherwise perfect landscape of the park.

As people began to make their way through the greenery of the park, the figure finally began to stir and a single lazy eye peered out from underneath the black ball cap he wore over his covered face.

On instinct the man quickly jerked his hand up to where his holster hung under the long dusty overcoat but stopped midway as the city started to become more and more clear and he remembered he was inside Vale.

"Oh, thats right, I'm here. What was I going to do again?" he mumbled to himself as he pulled out his scroll and replayed last nights recording to himself to remember what he was going to do that day.

"Right. Time to go." he said wearily as he slowly started off down the busy main street towards the market district of town, still attracting more than a few disgusted looks from the suited passersby's he encountered along the road.

An hour later he arrived outside the 'From Dusk till Dawn' dust shop, its owner beginning to climb down a ladder that was propped up against the front of the shop where a 'Grand Re-Opening' sign hung from a single line of rope that ran from one end of the rooftop to the other.

As the man walked closer to the front door of the shop, the owner suddenly fell backwards off of the ladder headfirst, still trying to hold onto the steel that stood against the shop. As he plummeted to the hard concrete several feet below, the stranger, in a flash of movement, lunged at the old man, grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away and spun him around so he faced away from the falling steel of the ladder, his feet gently landing on the hard concrete he had been falling towards.

"You ok old timer?"

"Uhh huh…" the shopkeeper replied, his hands and voice shaking from the near miss.

"You want to go inside?" he said as he put his hand on the mans shoulder and started to lead him back inside the dust shops front door.

"Mmmm."

"Here you go. Easy, easy." the rescuer said as he sat the old down into a chair behind the check-out desk.

"Stay here and relax, I'll go get the ladder out of the street ok?

"Uh huh."

A couple of minutes later, the cloaked stranger walked back through the door to find the owner had wandered off into his back room and was walking out with small tray. Steam swirled from a pair of mugs as he carried the hot tea to a table behind the main register desk.

Pointing towards a nearby chair, he offered his savior the extra glass of tea and motioned for the man to join him behind the desk.

"Thank you." he replied as he took the mug and carried the chair over to where the shop keep sat waiting for him, a small smile forming under the black cloth over his face.

"So," he began as he tried to find something to say, "why the Re-Opening?

The old man leaned back in his chair as he remembered what had happened a while ago and turned his gaze back on his guest as he retold what had transpired the night he was forced to close the store.

Although light was brightly shining all around Vale and Beacon Academy, the curtains to team RWBY's room remained tightly shut as night continued on inside the morbidly quiet dorm.

Ruby hadn't so much as closed her eyes throughout the entirety of the night. Her mind far too active with the previous days events and discoveries.

Yang slept hardly at all as she wanted to stay awake incase her baby sister started to cry in the night and because she felt guilty about allowing Weiss to scream at her. But most of all, she felt incredibly guilty for not coming to her aid sooner.

Weiss spent much of the night fluctuating between silently scrubbing at the dress which was starting to rip and tear from the constant harsh washing and grumbling to herself about how she was supposed to be team leader and it was a mistake to let Ruby even walk through the front doors, let alone become a huntress.

Blake was the only one to so much as close her eyes for more than a few seconds. However, by daybreak she had slowly crept out of bed and, as quietly as a cat, opened and walked through the door before leaving the pitch blackness of the room.

_The note said to meet 3 days after the seventh. _Ruby contemplated, _But the seventh isn't for another few days so I have almost a week until I find out what that guy thinks hes doing._

Glancing over to the other bunk, she thought of telling Yang what she had learned but quickly struck down the idea. _The last thing she needs is to worry about me. I can take care of it. I have to._

Suddenly a knock at the door disrupted what she had been thinking of. Looking over to where Yang lay, she found her sister had finally passed out and was sleeping soundly, if not uncomfortably on her bed, Weiss was still shut away in the bathroom and Blake was not in the room. Gathering herself up, she climbed down from her bed and went over to see who was at the door this early in the morning.

Cracking open the door, she came face to face with the schools most lovable idiot: Juane Arc.

"What do you want?" she asked, yawning as she finished.

Taken aback by her disheveled look, Jaune gathered himself up and made as if to try and see where the rest of the gang was.

"Don't you remember? We were supposed to start training for the tournament today. Blakes already met up with the rest of JNPR and we're just waiting for you guys."

Her eyes widened as she remembered her promise she made a few days ago, but had been too preoccupied to even think about it.

"Oh, I completely forgot. Can you give me a little bit ok?"

"Uhh, sure, fine. Take all the time you need." His face relaxed as he realised he wouldn't be beaten to a pulp just yet.

Ruby dashed back into the room and started to violently shake Yang awake jabbering in her ear about getting up and getting ready for the day. Yang only responded by grabbing her hands and holding them still so she wouldn't be shaken to death.

"Stop shaking me and i'll get up." she whined as she started to slowly open her exhausted eyes and rose out of bed.

Ruby grinned as she let her sister go and turned around to grab her clothes. Before she could so much as pick them up off of the floor, the pale white of the bathroom door caught her attention as she realised Weiss was still inside.

Although she wanted nothing more than to leave her antagonizer from the night before, she remembered what Yang had said . '_Forgive and forget.'_

Bracing herself for what she might find, she slowly walked over to the door and carefully knocked on its hardwood surface.

"Hey, Weiss, we need to get going, Juane and all of the rest are waiting for us.

She listened closely for any sign that her partner was going to explode again. Instead, the bathroom remained completely silent

"Weiss?" Ruby called out to as she, ever so slowly, cracked open the door. Her face relaxed as she found Weiss curled up on the floor, a red rag in one hand and her other hand placed under her head, her eyes sealed shut as she soundly slept on the tile floor. The dress she had worn was ripped and torn and sat crumpled up against the wall.

Ruby looked back from the sight and back at her sister who had grabbed up her clothes and was readying her gauntlets for the days training.

"Yang, help me a second."

"What is it?" she replied as she moved over to where Ruby stood propped against the door frame.

"She's too tired for practice today, can you help put her in bed for me?"

As she saw the defeated Weiss sleeping on the hard floor, Yang looked back to the calmly smiling Ruby with an enormous sense of pride that she had listened to her words the night before.

"Sure, I'll put her in bed. Hurry up and get ready, Jaunes still waiting for us you know." she replied as she slowly bent down and gingerly picked up the sleeping Ice Queen and placed her into her bed, being extremely careful that she did not wake her.

"Ready?" she asked as she finished placing the sleeping queen onto her bed.

Ruby placed Crescent Rose on her back under her long flowing cape as she finished pulling on her black reaper clothes. However, before she started toward the door, she moved back into the bathroom and walked out with the ruined dress in hand. Seeing Yang give her a quizzical look, Ruby replied by putting the dress under her bed sheets and simply smiled back at Yang who still stood next to the door where Juane was waiting.

"Yep, let's go."

Juane jumped as the door flew open and the pair of sisters jumped out and immediately started toward the practice field they were going to use for training that day.

"Well, come on!" Ruby quietly yelled back at Jaune who was slowly getting himself back onto his feet, his face becoming ever more whiter as he saw the energy the two suddenly had and grumbled to himself for reminding them about todays training.

After listening through a hefty tale of attempted robbery, a young heroine, a small airship over a nearby building and explosions that rocked the neighborhood, the man turned his face away from the old man and just barely lifted up the cloth mask he kept draped over his face to take a sip of the rapidly cooling tea.

Replacing the glass back on his lap, he returned his gaze back upon the store owner who was looking curiously at his guest.

"A bad scar," the man said as he noticed the quizzical expression, "and you said that the girl was wearing a red hood?"

"Uhh huh."

"And the men who tried to rob you were dressed in black suits with the head honcho wearing a white suit with a cigar and bowler hat?"

"Mmm hmm."

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eye as he tried to piece together what he had heard.

_A red hood? Maybe it was that girl from the other day. _He thought to himself. _She did have something on her back that might have been a weapon._

_I wonder where she learned to use something like that? _He shook his head as he disregarded the thought. _Bah, it not important. But what is important is who the hell was it that tried to take the dust and why? Other than petty thievery, the only other kind of robbery is organized and these guys sure as hell don't sound like some punks with a ski mask. So they are trying to steal dust and it sounds like they weren't just looking at this shop. If I had to guess I think they are working for someone but that is still the question. Who the hell wants this kind of dust and what do they want it for? _

_Bah, hopefully Ozpin knows something about it._

"Sorry, just thinking." he said as he opened his eye and saw the owner glancing at him with a tinge of worry. "May I have a piece of paper and a pencil?" he asked as the owner pulled out the items from his register desk. "Thank you." said the man as he furiously scribbled down something on the paper and put it into his coat pocket. Turning his single eye back on the old man he clasped his hands together and cleared his throat.

"So, now that we have had a drink and a story, do you mind if we do a little business now?"

The old man quickly smiled and rose to his feet as he walked over to the dust counter and pulled out a drawer near the floor and produced a key ring with a half dozen keys jingling on the bronze ring.

As the he moved to follow the mans offer, he watched the jingle of the keys rattle as they turned to open a backdoor in the shop.

"Please, take what you need. You saved me a trip to the hospital so it's the least I can do for you." answered the old man at the others confused expression.

Never one to turn down an offer, the man began to search the room until he came across a handful of vials of dark red and very light blue dust containers. Taking only a few of each, he quickly backed out of the store room as the old man stood against the door frame, a gentle smile on his lips.

"I can't thank you enough and I can't completely accept the offer. Here, some lien for the tea." he said as he pulled some money out from a pocket within his coat and placed the money on the dust counter and shook the owners hand as their business concluded.

As the man left the store, the old shopkeeper reached over to collect the small thank you token the other had left. As he lifted up the small amount of money, the folded slip of paper he had given the strange guest earlier fell out from underneath the card. Flipping open the note the old man read it with a increasingly worried expression until he finally placed the note back on the table top, his expression that of worry and fear.

_My name is Carver Laus_

_If you find out who attacked the store contact me_

_Likewise, if the girl who saved you comes back, contact me_

_Do not tell anyone my name_

_Do not show that you ever met me_

_If you do, both of us will end up dead_

_101-115-117_

_Hurry_


	7. Chapter 5: Meeting of Minds

**Meeting of Minds**

Most of the students had already made plans to go into Vale for the day, to visit someplace around the country or simply decided to take the weekend off to catch up on very much needed sleep or work, leaving the multitude of classrooms and hallways desolate and quiet. Something that the man at the head of the academy had tried to get used to with a weekly tradition he began years ago, albeit with little success.

Ozpin, as his weekend tradition, began to make his rounds throughout the school counting every student he came across and making a mental note of what they were doing. Likewise, any Professor that had a moment to take a break from the stacks upon stacks of papers that needed fileing or graded, he would stop and make time for a short chat and see how things were going and if they needed anything for the next week of classes. Making his way through the main courtyard, constantly scanning around for any sign that he wasn't alone in his school.

"One, two, three and four." he said to himself as he passed by the cafeteria where team CRDL had found a new pastime in destroying everything they could get their hands on.

Instead of going over and ordering the group to put the room back together and reprimanding them on behavior, he thought better of it and instead grinned to himself as he started to imagine what sort of faces the boys would make when Glynda would come storming in through the front door, her face beet red and eyes that could kill if anyone so much as glanced at them.

As he began to turn away from the disaster zone that was the lunch room, his scroll began to scream as if an alarm were going off. Realising that it was his messenger that was blaring, he pulled out the small grey rod from his side pocket and opened the object so he could read the newly gotten message. A small picture in the top right of the page let him know that it was Glynda trying to contact him.

_James is here to see you. Do hurry, I don't want to be near him any longer than I have to._

"They never could play nice." He mumbled to himself as he started back toward his office which was on the other side of the school from him.

Although he had spent a large majority of the previous night and much of his time spent walking the school, he still managed to hide his worries behind plain faced veil. Giving no indication that anything was outside of the ordinary.

"Well, this is a surprise." said Ozpin dryly as he stepped out of the elevator into the large space that was his office, Glynda was doing everything she could to ignore Ironwood who was doing everything he could do to start up a conversation.

"Ah, there you are. I was worried you had taken an early vacation." Ironwood said as he stepped toward Ozpin greeted him with a warm handshake.

"If only I could." peering around his colleague, he found Glynda standing nearby as if waiting for something.

"I'll let you two do a little catching up if you don't mind."

"Of course, don't let us keep you."

"Well, she's about as hospitable as I remember." Ironwood said as he watched her forcefully storm into the elevator and smash in one of the buttons.

"She's just a little stressed." Ozpin replied as he motioned for James to sit in one of the chairs he kept in front of his desk, he took his place in his own chair behind the strange gear filled table.

"When isn't something stressful?"

"Only when one is asleep." Ozpin replied. "So, I highly doubt a busy man such as yourself came all the way up here just to make some small talk with an aging professor?."

James merely smiled at the thought. "If only that was the case. However, before we begin, I did bring a little present for a fellow colleague." he said as he pulled out a small white bag from his coat pocket.

Taking the pouch from the large man across from him, Ozpin untied a piece of string that held the bag closed. "Vermillion coffee beans?"

"Figured you needed something for a rainy day."

"Well, it has been a while since I've had a quality cup. However," Ozpin set the bag on the corner of his desk and took on a much more sober expression, "you had something that needed to be discussed?"

"Ah yes, the Vale police department received a tip from an anonymous witness saying that a suspicious looking man was at the location of a recent murder in a local bookstore downtown. Further questioning showed that this man passed on a object to a young girl in a bright red hood before disappearing from sight."

"Why did you bring this to me?" Ozpin asked, a slight touch of annoyance coloring his voice. "Unless this concerns the safety of the citizens or is related to grimm in some way, I have no reason to care if someone passed on something to someone."

"Oz, please be patient. I wouldn't have brought this to you if that was all there was to it."

Returning to his usual stoic self, Ozpin clasped his hands together and looked Ironwood directly in the eyes.

Seeing he had gained his attention, Ironwood continued. "The witness reported that he was dressed in a long muddy trench coat with a massive rucksack on his back and a black cloth covering his almost his entire face except for a single eye on his left side as well as a black ball cap with symbol of a bird holding a torch . This tells us that he is probably not from the city and has traveled on foot for quite a some time. On simple suspicion I had the log of all people who entered the city looked over and found two damning pieces of information."

"As you might know, the black log boxes that are used before each gate contain a I.D. scanning device as well as a video recorder hidden behind a one way surface on the scanner box. A quick search found a man matching his description. Even more worrying was the I.D. he used."

"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked.

"The I.D. he used belonged to a bounty hunter by the name Jack-O. He came to the Police department to take on a bounty a couple of weeks ago which was to kill a very dangerous man out in Grimm territory. Because of how the target was not supposed to be recognizable after he eliminated him, Jack had a GPS and video recorder strapped to him so if he came across his target he could guarantee that he killed the proper target and show where he found him for future reference. The GPS has him in Man's Progress when he finally started shooting. However, it seems his target was more than a match as he managed to kill Jack and almost all of his men. Even more interesting than that was as he died, the recorder managed to get a good look at the target. A man in a muddy brown trench coat with a black cloth covering all of his face except for one eye and a black ball cap with a symbol of a bird holding a torch."

"And who was the bounty for?" he asked, although he felt he knew the answer already.

"The man who slaughtered hundreds at Caedem, betrayed vital technological information to Mistral that could have jeopardized the safety of Atlas and has been reportedly working closely with the terrorist organization White Fang: Carver Laus."

Ozpin let out a long sigh and stood up and out of his chair and walked over to the massive glass window that stood in the back of his office.

"Are we absolutely sure that this is Carver?"

"We've been watching the log out system since it was found that he came back. However, we do not know exactly where he might be hiding out at, if that is what you're thinking."

"So may I assume by the fact that you are here personally that you do not believe the Police department will be able to handle this and that you will want something from me. I am spot on, am I not?

"Oz," said Ironwood who joined the Headmaster by the window. "you know as well as I do that the police are no match for him. Hell, even the Vale military would have a difficult time catching and eliminating him. So that is why I've come to you. Oz I need-"

"You need huntsmen to do a job that should be handled by the authorities." Ozpin interjected, a flash of anger in his voice.

"You know that the only chance we have for bringing him to justice is to fight fire with fire. He is too quick and maneuverable for the slow process of law enforcement and he is more than capable of fleeing and hiding from a large military force until the end of time. We need the best that you have if we are ever going to touch him."

"And when would you want these people, my students, for this then? I may be willing to allow you to use them but only if we know that he is in fact within the city, and I will not tolerate taking them out of this school until the time that they are truly needed. Also, as cruel as it might sound, I cannot give you those who have graduated and are at the top of their class."

"We need those huntsmen now! If he finds out we know he's here, he _will_ go underground and won't resurface for years to come. And you now as well as I that only the very best will be able to take him on, let alone eliminate him!"

"No. I cant give you the people you want for two very good reasons."

And what migt those reasons be?" Ironwood demanded.

"He is not any ordinary person, he could pick out a graduated hunter from a crowd of thousands and if he knew that huntsmen were after him, then he would go into hiding and we will never find him again. As well as that, all of my upper class hunters are out for the weekend and wil probably not be able to respond in time to catch him. So all I can spare are the students that are here on campus right now. That is the best I can do."

"Oz, what do you need so I can get the manpower I need."

"Is there solid information that this man is the exact same person?"

"A eye witness called the Vale PD with a tip off about a peculiar individual walking throughout the city. Multiple disturbances in the lesser part of the city coincide with this mans arrival and a quick scan of the log system showed that a dead mercenary recently reentered town. What more evidence do you need!?"

"Unless you get solid evidence that he is who you think he is, I will not force my students into something that has nothing to do with the task of a huntsmen. We are not a police force and we are not a military force."

"Ozpin, if he gets away again-"

"Understand this though," he continued, "if he turns out to be Carver then I will give you my two best teams that are available at the moment. Until then, it is not a huntsman issue."

"Fine, if evidence is what you want I'll get it." James replied, his chair sliding back as he stood to take his leave, "But remember this, if he decides to rampage and destroy half of the city, the lives of those he will kill, and those livelihoods he will destroy, are on your hands." And at that, the General of the Atlesian military walked back out of the office and into the elevator that stood open and down to the ground floor.

"He won't kill unless he has no choice." he quietly said to himself.

Pulling out his scroll from inside of his coat, he quickly typed several words and sent out a message before closing it and resuming his usual stone like position behind his desk. Several minutes later, the elevators bell chimed as it arrived at his floor.

"Come in."

He heard her before the doors even opened. "I can't believe him, he just waltzes into the school as if he owns the place, comes up here when you are not around, irritates me for what felt like an eternity and then just leaves." she fumed.

"Please, don't be too hard on him." she immediately spun on her heels to face him.

"Don't be too hard?! I don't think I could have been any softer if I tried!"

"Glynda, he came to tell us that Carver Laus has finally resurfaced."

Hearing this, she collapsed back into one of the chairs, her face quickly losing its irritation and replaced by a deathly serious expression. "What did he say exactly?"

Ozpin retold her what had happened while she had been gone.

"It does sound an awful lot like he is back but there still is no sure evidence that says that he is."

"No, there isn't. However, the moment we receive any concrete evidence that confirms it, I want you to take a pair of teams and find him and, if it comes to it, eliminate him."

"Why do you want to wait for confirmation first? Shouldn't we assume he is here and act accordingly?"

"He is not a fool. He can tell a huntsman from a room full of people. If we start looking before we know where he is we risk alerting him that we are on to him and he will leave the city and he will be impossible to track at that point."

"So, what teams do you think I should take with me when they find him?"

"Come now. I think you know which ones to bring along."

"Well they are some of the best we've had in a long while." she said, a small grin crossing her face as she remembered they "punishment" she had given to CRDL. "Well I'd better make sure that they are ready to go at any time, just to be safe." And at that she quickly rose back to her feet and walked out of the large office, the air around her completely different from when she had stormed in earlier.

_I bought you some time, use it. _He thought to himself as he glanced over at the small pouch of coffee beans he had been gifted. _I think we both deserve a little refreshment._


End file.
